July 17, 2017 — Two environmental groups are suing the Trump administration for stretching the red snapper season for recreational anglers in the Gulf of Mexico.
Changes are needed — “The way we’re managing red snapper today stinks,” with states setting widely different anglers’ seasons in their waters and federal seasons getting shorter and shorter, Robert Jones of the Environmental Defense Fund said Monday.
But, he said, “I don’t want to return to the bad old days when my dad and I could barely find a red snapper.”
Jones and Chris Dorsett of the Ocean Conservancy, said during a conference call with reporters Monday that both groups want their lawsuit to prompt discussions about improvements.
The U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately comment. It has said the economic benefit from allowing weekend fishing this summer by recreational anglers in federal waters outweighs the harm to the red snapper species, which is still recovering from disastrous overfishing.
Gulf state officials had lobbied for and praised the change, but the federal lawsuit filed in Washington says the decision violated several laws by ignoring scientific assessments, promoting overfishing, and failing to follow required procedures.
The prized sport and table fish has rebounded under fishing limits and procedures set by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, but is only halfway to its goal, Dorsett and Jones told The Associated Press earlier. The lawsuit isn’t trying to cancel the current season but seeks to prevent similar decisions in the future.